Parents Afraid Beloved School May Never Reopen

CARRSVILLE — No more pencils, no more books. No more Carrsville Elementary School as it's been for 72 years.

The Isle of Wight School Board voted in a surprise move last Thursday night to close the school for the 1995-96 school year so that the building can be renovated.

Joyous children burst from the doors beneath the school's big white columns Wednesday morning in celebration of the beginning of summer vacation. But the adults who were there to pick up children and those in the school were more somber.

"We all have mixed emotions about this closing," said Debra Hicks, who has been the principal at Carrsville for two years. "I'm looking at it as a little inconvenience for one year."

Some Carrsville parents, however, were less charitable about the closing. Some, like parent Susan Minton, who had attended the school herself from kindergarten through 8th grade, expressed sorrow and anger.

"We were promised our kids would go to Carrsville while the renovations were being done,'' she said. ``I'm dissatisfied with the way this was decided. I think it was underhanded. Parents should have been able to vote on it."

Minton also expressed a concern that the school would be closed permanently.

"I'll believe that my child will return to Carrsville when I see it," she said.

Hicks, however, said that there is no question about Carrsville reopening in 1996.

"Here is my assurance. There is a definite commitment to build a new school here," she said. Hicks also said that she will be in regular contact with the contractors about the $2.8 million renovation. She has not yet received her new assignment for the 1995-95 school year.

Jill Vargo wept as she talked about her anger at the decision and how it was made. "Another parent called me Friday morning and said, `Did you hear? They're closing Carrsville Elementary.' I couldn't believe it," Vargo said.

Vargo's friend, Brenda Harrell, got the news at a local gas station on Friday morning.

"This would have all been better if it had been open and been discussed and if we could have been able to express our opinion," Harrell said.

Vargo and Harrell echoed Minton's fears that the school would never reopen.

"Once they close this school, they have us by the neck," Vargo said. "People in Carrsville will have no control over what happens."

Kim Davis, whose son Billy finished 5th grade Wednesday, got tears in her eyes as she talked about the closing of the neighborhood school. Davis also had attended Carrsville Elementary and railed against the way the administrators and school board let the public know about the closing.

"What upsets parents is that we got letters after the decision was already made," Davis said. "It's just a very emotional issue."

"It's understandable, but sad," she added. "Progress is hard."

The school was built in 1923 and has served as a neighborhood school in the southeastern corner of Isle of Wight since that time. The smallest of the county's elementary schools, Carrsville underwent one renovation in 1954. A wing was added in 1971, but the school has remained unchanged since that time. By the late 1970s, the school's enrollment had dropped to 180 students, and a committee was established to consider closing the school. The pupils would have been sent to Windsor Elementary instead. The outcry of Carrsville parents was loud enough to keep the school open, according to reports at that time.

Nearly 20 years after that transfer was avoided, Carrsville students will go to Windsor Elementary for one year. Some of the students will have to travel an additional 20 to 25 miles to school.

The contract with Virtexco Corporation, which will do the renovation, is expected to be signed within the coming week, according to Peter Andreu of Powell Management Associates, the consulting firm employed by Isle of Wight to oversee its construction projects. Work on the school could begin within the month. The renovation at Carrsville school will include demolition of the middle portion of the school, which is the oldest section, renovation of one wing, an addition for classrooms and bus lanes in front.